SEPTA Bus Depot Fire Subject Of Federal Investigation

PHILADELPHIA — Federal authorities are now investigating the fire that burned more than a dozen decommissioned SEPTA buses at a Northwest Philadelphia depot in June.

The Federal Transit Administration — a department within the Department of Transportation — Wednesday said it has launched a probe into the June 5 fire at the Midvale Depot at Roberts and Pulaski avenues.

The fire broke out at about 6:30 a.m. and engulfed numerous buses, sending harmful, black smoke billowing into the air.

Crews managed to get the fire under control by about 8:10 a.m. that day, after the blaze reached two alarms.

The administration said 16 decommissioned electric buses with lithium-ion batteries were destroyed in the fire.

A letter from the administration to SEPTA General Manager Scott Sauer asks: "How secure are these [electric vehicles] once retired, and who holds proactive accountability when a 'green' initiative becomes a public safety hazard?"

SEPTA is being asked to provide the administration documentation on the storage and handling protocols for decommissioned electric buses and lithium-ion battery packs; as well as a summary, knowing what SEPTA now knows after these events, of what additional safety procedures for storage during these decommissioning periods would decrease the likelihood of crisis scenarios.

"Without this, public support for the clean-energy transit initiatives, which have been fostered under recent administrations, could be jeopardized," the letter reads.

The full letter is available online here.

No one was hurt in the fire.